News and Updates

The HaSET (“happiness” in Amharic) program is a collaborative undertaking by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Saint Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. HaSET focuses on local capacity building, evidence generation, and evidence to policy translation in the area of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH).

The HaSET Maternal and Child Health Research Program had its the official launch on April 20, 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The event took place virtually and in-person. Highlights include a keynote address by Dr. Dereje Duguma, H.E. State Minister, an exciting panel discussion, and presentations by HaSET PI Grace Chan and Program Director Dr. Lisanu Taddesse. An article written about the launch can be found online at the Harvard Chan.

With an effort to identify and prioritize maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) research topics in Ethiopia, HaSET conducted a series of key informant interviews (KIIs) with MNCH experts, designed an online Delphi questionnaire using the findings from these KIIs, and administered it to MNCH program leaders, policy makers, program implementers, researchers, funders and experts. Through the partnership of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), a consensus workshop was held to discuss the results of this questionnaire and establish consensus on prioritizing MNCH research topics that can be answered through the HaSET MNCH research program and other platforms.